Janice started giggling. "If a boy had boobs, he would never take his hands off them. I swear, some boys seem like they have three hands, anyway."
"There's a nice idea," I said.
"Nice? You like having to fight off an octopus when you go out on a date?" Jolene seemed horrified at the idea.
"Fight? Who wants to fight?" I asked. "A little wrestling, maybe. But if he gets me pinned, I go for the leg-scissors hold and hang on until he's too tired to continue."
Janice appreciated my humor. She was almost doubled-over laughing. Jolene didn't get it.
"But he might get your clothes off. He might, you know, get between your legs." Jolene whined.
Jolene needed to wake up and smell the pheromones. Not that she knew what a pheromone was, but she obviously wasn't smelling any. It was no wonder she was still a virgin.
"Yes, Jolene," I told her, "He just might get your clothes off. He might get you completely naked. He might touch you all over your body. He might lick you and kiss you in sensitive places. He might just put his cock in you and fuck you silly. He might just make you make you feel better than you've ever felt in your life. You might enjoy it. It has been known to happen."
Jolene looked stricken. The thought of having sex with a boy really had her scared. I had known a couple of other girls who had the same fear, but most of them got over it about the time that their periods started and their hormones told them that sex was something good, not something bad. Jolene was way behind schedule.
I wondered what I could do to help her overcome her phobia. Then I wondered if I should even try. Maybe she would get over it by herself. Then again, maybe she wouldn't. If Jolene was my friend, then it was my responsibility to help her deal with her problem. I wanted her to be my friend, so I had to help. It had to be help, though. I couldn't start to make decisions for her and try to enforce them. She had to make the choices herself. I should only try to remove the fear. She and Janice would be coming over Saturday. Maybe there was something I could do then.
"Oh, hell!" I thought. "I better keep her away from Bud and Jim. Bambi was right about that. If she got a look at what either one of them had to offer a tender virgin, she might just die an old maid."
Janice picked up on how this was really freaking out Jolene and she got serious. "Jolene, are you still a virgin?" she asked.
Jolene hadn't wanted to let everyone in on her secret, but it was pretty clear from her reaction what the answer to that question was. She hung her head and didn't answer.
"Yes," I told Janice. "She is. I think she has 'cock phobia' the way she acts. Don't make a big deal out of it. I know she's embarrassed over it. Jolene, when you were a little girl, did someone tell you that sex hurt?"
"My Gram," Jolene said quietly. "She always told me that if I was to let a boy get me alone that he would hurt me and spoil me and I would never be no good no more."
I could tell from the way Jolene lapsed into rural dialect that her family were country folks who had only been living in town for one generation, if that. Her grandmother's ideas about sex were rooted in the dark ages. I bet the old woman wanted to stick her granddaughter in a chastity belt until she was ready to marry her off.
"Jolene, you know she was just trying to scare you, don't you? I'm sure she meant well, but you know that part about being spoiled was straight horseshit — pardon my Norwegian."
Jolene laughed a little at that. "Yeah. I know it was all a load of bull, but she kept telling me boys would hurt me every time we visited her. It started when I began to fill out and she kept it up until she died last year. She was my great-grandmother, see. She must have been close to a hundred when she passed."
Jolene took a deep breath before she went on. "She was the only person who ever talked to me about sex and from her it was all bad. My parents never contradicted her. I guess I didn't know how much fear she was putting into me. I can't stand to be alone with a boy. I always have to be in a group to be able to relax and have fun. If a boy touches me I freeze up and he gets this weird look and backs off."
"Would you like us to help you get over this?" I asked her. "No pressure. We won't force you into anything. I promise." Janice nodded that she was willing to help, too. Something about a friend in need brings out the best in people.
"Can you?" Jolene asked. "I mean, I'm so screwed-up. Is there some way to get un-screwed?"
"I'm sure there is something we can do. I promise we will find it. Let me think about it. I'll have a plan by the time you two get to my house Saturday. Better plan on making it a sleep-over, by the way. The last party I had, we had a lot of fun doing that." I didn't want to tell her that the last party I had was notable for a lot of things, not the least of which was that it turned into an all-night orgy. That might be a little off-putting to her.
"A sleep-over?" Janice said. "Wow! I haven't done that since I was nine. This will be fun!"
"Gee, what should we wear?" Jolene asked. "I mean, I've heard about Mrs. Reynolds. She's, like, this rich society person and all. I've seen the house from the street and it's huge!"